uk.railway Google Group

[GordonT]

Is the above discussion group now defunct? Recent attempts to log into it just result (for me at least) in a message "Banned content warning uk.railway has been identified as containing spam, malware or other malicious content."

 

[pdeaves]

I think it's still (nominally) live as someone on here yesterday mentioned something posted on it. How you get in, I don't know!

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's a USENET group, which you access using a USENET server and a piece of newsreader software - all a bit archaic, really! Google Groups has mirrored it with varying success over the years, but it isn't primarily a Google group.

 

[GordonT]

It's a USENET group, which you access using a USENET server and a piece of newsreader software - all a bit archaic, really! Google Groups has mirrored it with varying success over the years, but it isn't primarily a Google group.

Thanks - I'd lost sight of that important distinction as up to now I'd just accessed it without any formalities. I will look into the Usenet dimension.

 

[blackfive460]

There is a Usenet client available as a Chrome extension (here) but you will need access to an NNTP server. If your ISP doesn't provide one there are plenty of free ones which Google will find for you. I've used Eternal September which is free and carries uk.railway.

 

[jtuk]

That server really ought to change their name

 

[erk]

The group was attracting huge amounts of spam from drug dealers. Google apparently decided they couldn't cope and have removed access to it. This has stopped the spam.

As noted above, you need to find a Usenet client and server. I use Thunderbird and Eternal September (both free).

 

[Sad Sprinter]

How old is it?

 

[ainsworth74]

How old is it?

Older than this Forum and we've been going since July 2005! Usenet groups in general are somewhat ancient now in internet terms.

 

[yorkie]

It must be over twice the age of this forum

Most of the long standing regulars, whose posts I remember seeing, are now on here.

 

[blackfive460]

How old is it?

I remember using Usenet in the 1980s and I'm pretty certain there was a uk.railways which seemed well established back then.

 

[YorksLad12]

Older than this Forum and we've been going since July 2005! Usenet groups in general are somewhat ancient now in internet terms.

It must be over twice the age of this forum

Most of the long standing regulars, whose posts I remember seeing, are now on here.

Thanks for making *me* feel ancient. I first started using Usenet in the early 1990s. Then came the web, and forum software which made it harder for the random spammers to get in. While I miss those days this is the way we do things now, and it's for the best. I have the same feelings towards HST sets and Pacers...

 

[swt_passenger]

I remember using Usenet in the 1980s and I'm pretty certain there was a uk.railways which seemed well established back then.

That’s exactly the newsgroup that is being discussed. I think many people baled out when BT stopped easy access to usenet. That was about 10 or 12 years ago?

 

[OVS Flatbottom]

I think uk.railways was technically a different group from uk.railway, and I believe they might have coexisted for a while - but I only know this at second hand (neither was available on the news server I used - outside the UK - when I started on Usenet in 1994, but uk.railway became available around two years later, at which point I became a regular there for several years).

 

[jthjth]

The great thing about USENET is the absence of moderators. You can get really interesting threads that have nothing to do with the original post, without someone jumping in to spoil the fun. There are downsides, but the upsides more than compensate.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The great thing about USENET is the absence of moderators. You can get really interesting threads that have nothing to do with the original post, without someone jumping in to spoil the fun. There are downsides, but the upsides more than compensate.

That's probably the biggest difference from here (and when I moved over I found it very, very hard to get used to and got a lot of posts deleted as a result) - USENET thrives on thread drift and is completely unmoderated, and also deleting posts is basically impossible[1], whereas this Forum is much more organised and specific on each thread being on-topic.

[1] You can issue a Control:cancel post, but most news servers don't respect them, so once posted it's there for good.

 

[Pete_uk]

The guy who developed the Amstrad CPC is a regular poster there.

I access it via my thunderbird email program

 

[Doctor Fegg]

He is, and on comp.sys.amstrad.8bit too - the CPC newsgroup!

You can tell how old uk.railway is by its short name - later groups (as in mid-90s) were put in the uk.rec.* hierarchy.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You can tell how old uk.railway is by its short name - later groups (as in mid-90s) were put in the uk.rec.* hierarchy.

It would have been uk.transport.rail if put into the "proper" hierarchy. There was a period of debate about it but nothing was ever done.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Good point! (Shows how long it is since I last posted there...)

 

[Roger100]

The great thing about USENET is the absence of moderators. You can get really interesting threads that have nothing to do with the original post, without someone jumping in to spoil the fun. There are downsides, but the upsides more than compensate.

Yes, sometimes mods do terminate interesting threads. But the last time I was on usenet, the lack of moderation lead to court action after accusations of child abuse and the accuser banned from the net for 6 months. When he was allowed back he continued as if nothing had happened.

 

[Bevan Price]

I still visit and post to uk.railway. I found it long before I knew about this forum -- and at a time when internet access was via a dial-up connection. At that time, my access to any web site was painfully s.....l.....o......w....... -- and access to newsgroups via email software was a bit quicker.

You do get interesting discussions there, but deviations from original topic are very common, and you do get "know-it-all" types who seem to like endless arguments.

One problem is that you cannot (as far as I know) edit or delete posts containing typos. or mistakes -- all you can do is post a follow-up message pointing out your mistakes.

I used to subscribe to several other usenet groups, but left them, most because nobody was using them, but a few because they were being swamped by "nutter" / "abusive" types.

Drugs spam is a problem at times, but with Thunderbird, you can filter names of drugs, or nuisance posters, so that they are not downloaded onto your computer.

 

[[.n]]

There are a number of long standing usenet groups in uk.* that have been blocked by Google because of the amount of spam that has been posted into them (ironically from google groups accounts, rather than usenet accounts)

I still subscribe to a number of groups (I use Gravity as a client), a really good (paid) text server is new.individual.net / .de based at a German uni if I recall correctly - its 10 euro per year

 

[webbfan]

Used to look at it and occasionally post years ago as well as on uk.rec.modelrails (or similar). Same as others, dropped out when BT dropped it. Found it again on google groups recently and nearly posted ! But was beginning to feel drugs stuff had swamped it. Loonies never bothered me as they weren't compulsory reading.

 

[iainbhx]

It would have been uk.transport.rail if put into the "proper" hierarchy. There was a period of debate about it but nothing was ever done.

There was indeed, for a couple of years, I was actually the person "in charge" of the uk.* USENET heirarchy and there was a lot of talking about moving groups around into a properly organised hierarchy but no proposal was ever finally accepted. I haven't used USENET for about a decade now, just too much spam.

It was, of course, possible to moderate a USENET group and some were moderated, but the moderation was extremely easy to get around. In fact one moderated group alt.sysadmin.recovery had no moderators, it was sort of an entry test of how to post that you were able to insert an Approved: header into your posts.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It was, of course, possible to moderate a USENET group and some were moderated, but the moderation was extremely easy to get around. In fact one moderated group alt.sysadmin.recovery had no moderators, it was sort of an entry test of how to post that you were able to insert an Approved: header into your posts.

Though it was "proactive moderation" rather than the "reactive moderation" that is mostly carried out here, and as a result creates a heck of a lot of work for the mods because every post has to be checked before getting the OK, rather than that only being applied to a few individuals as it is here.

 

[iainbhx]

Though it was "proactive moderation" rather than the "reactive moderation" that is mostly carried out here, and as a result creates a heck of a lot of work for the mods because every post has to be checked before getting the OK, rather than that only being applied to a few individuals as it is here.

Oh yes, those groups which were moderated did have flow problems.

It was actually possible to retroactively moderate, but not all NNTP servers accepted cancel messages.